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The 

CONQUEST  OF  FEAR 

A  Jewish  Science 
View-Point 

By 
RABBI  MORRIS  LICHTENSTEIN 


Published  by  the 

SOCIETY  OF  JEWISH  SCIENCE 

610  West  163rd  St.,  New  York 


PRICE  25  CENTS 


Copyright  1922 
Society  of  Jewiih  Science 


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Annex 


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THE   CONTROLLING   FACTOR 

THE  more  science  searches  into  the  origin  of 
disease,  the  more  it  becomes  convinced  that  the 
root  of  physical  ailments  lies  in  mental  disturb- 
ance. The  body,  of  itself,  possesses,  we  find,  all  the 
elements  that  make  for  health  and  strength,  and  if 
these  were  not  interfered  with,  man's  life  upon 
earth  would  be  untainted  with  pain  or  suffering. 
Interference  with  the  state  of  the  body  usually 
emanates  from  the  mind.  The  mind  is  not  a 
mere  organ  of  the  body;  it  is  the  power-house, 
the  source  from  which  all  the  organs  draw  their 
vitality  and  their  ability  to  function.  The  influence 
of  the  mind  over  the  body  is  absolute.  Every  one 
is  familiar  with  the  fact  that  bashfulness  or  em- 
barrassment, purely  mental  sensations,  will  cause 
the  blood  to  rush  into  the  face;  while  fear,  on  the 
other  hand,  will  cause  it  to  recede.  Joy  expresses 
itself  in  bright  glances,  in  a  "glow  of  happiness," 
worry  is  readily  recognized  in  the  drawn  mouth 
and  puckered  brow.  Anger,  sorrow,  astonishment, 
all  mental  states,  in  fact,  bring  forth  corresponding 
physical  manifestations.  These  are  but  some  of 
the  superficial  aspects  of  the  control  of  the  mind 
over  the  body.  Physiologists  tell  us  that  joy  creates 
a  secretion  within  the  body  which  stimulates  the 
heart  and  prompts  the  individual  to  greater  action, 
while  worry  creates  a  secretion  of  opposite  tend- 
ency, which  retards  the  inner  processes  and  im- 
pedes the  efforts  of  the  individual.  Chronic 


5008086 


diseases,  such  as  diabetes,  cancer,  and  high  blood 
pressure,  are  to  be  traced,  eminent  physicians  of 
to-day  tell  us,  to  fear  and  its  offspring,  worry. 
These  are  only  a  few  of  the  admitted  instances  of 
the  influence  of  thought  over  physical  processes. 
The  body  itself  without  the  direction  of  the  mind 
is  a  useless  and  helpless  instrument. 

Of  all  mental  disturbances  which  play  havoc  with 
the  human  body,  fear  is  the  most  deadly.  It  over- 
powers the  understanding,  it  shuts  the  mind  to 
logic  and  common  sense,  it  plunges  the  emotions  into 
a  state  of  turmoil  and  confusion.  This  turbulent 
state  of  mind  finds  an  outlet  in  the  body ;  the  poison 
generated  collects  itself  in  one  part  of  the  system 
or  another  and  breaks  out  into  one  or  another  form 
of  disease.  And  yet,  as  a  rule,  the  disasters  that 
we  fear  prove  to  be  but  figments  of  the  imagination, 
and  the  suffering  engendered  through  fear,  greater 
than  that  of  any  actual  disaster. 

Man  has  inherited  a  tendency  to  fear,  from  his 
primitive  ancestors.  But  so  has  he  received  other 
deleterious  characteristics  which,  however,  he  has 
succeeded  in  destroying  through  a  process  of  re- 
pression. Man  possesses  in  his  potential  make-up 
all  the  proclivities  of  his  countless  progenitors, 
from  the  dweller  of  the  cave  to  the  citizen  of  the 
civilized  world ;  and  yet  he  retains  only  those  which 
best  fit  him  for  the  environment  in  which  he  finds 
himself.  The  other  propensities  are  starved  out 
through  lack  of  nutriment  and  encouragement. 
Fear  in  prehistoric  ages,  when  men  and  beast  met 
in  sudden  and  fatal  encounters,  had  a  vital  function. 
But  to-day  it  has  outlived  its  protective  significance 
and  serves  only  as  a  generator  of  sickness  and  de- 
stroyer of  mankind.  The  persistence  of  fear  in  man 
is  simply  due  to  man's  failure  to  arm  himself 
against  it  and  drive  it  from  the  domain  of  his  con- 
sciousness. 


II 

THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  FEAR 

WE  are  so  overpowered  by  the  force  of  fear, 
that  we  are  unable  to  look  upon  it  objectively. 
We  continue  to  encourage  the  existence  of 
this  arch  enemy  of  man,  and  indeed  begin  very  early 
to  impress  it  upon  the  tender  mind  of  the  young.  We 
bring  up  our  children  under  the  shadow  of  fear. 
We  inculcate  fear  from  the  very  earliest  stages  of 
their  training.  We  teach  them  to  fear  the  heat, 
the  cold,  the  wind  and  the  rain.  We  teach  them  to 
look  upon  strangers  with  suspicion  and  apprehen- 
sion. We  teach  them  to  shrink  from  our  domestic 
animals;  it  is  no  uncommon  sight  to  see  a  child 
cower  with  terror  at  the  approach  of  a  friendly 
dog.  We  attempt  to  exact  instant  obedience  through 
shocking  tales  of  goblin  and  bogey  men,  torturing 
their  placid,  suspectible  imaginations  with  the  most 
dreadful  fears.  Above  all,  we  teach  them  to  fear 
pain  and  sickness,  and  thus  infest  their  minds  with 
poisonous  germs  long  before  they  contract  them 
from  any  physical  source. 

No  good  purpose  has  ever  been  served  by  disturb- 
ing the  nerves  of  our  little  ones  with  the  emotion 
of  fear.  A  child,  for  example,  may  suffer  more  from 
the  fear  of  a  fall  than  from  the  fall  itself.  While 
it  is  true  that  the  early  steps  of  a  child  must  be 
watched,  and  its  early  experiences  guided,  yet  a 
guardianship  based  on  the  instilling  of  fear  into  the 
young  soul,  is  far  more  harmful  than  any  baleful 
experience  which  the  unguarded  child  may  en- 
counter. It  is  seldom  that  an  accident  befalls  a 
child  through  its  own  lack  of  care  or  experience; 
the  instinct  for  self-preservation  works  strongly 
end  unconsciously  from  the  very  earliest  stages  of 
childhood.  God  has  created  His  creatures  with 
the  necessary  provisions  for  the  protection  of  life. 


Many  of  the  bumps,  both  actual  and  figurative, 
which  the  child  receives,  are  nature's  method  of 
gently  preparing  the  child  for  the  greater  hard- 
ships, the  heavier  blows  that  she  may  ask  him  to 
encounter  adequately  later  in  life.  And  yet  we  see 
mothers  endlessly  warning  their  children  not  to 
jump,  not  to  run,  lest  they  fall;  not  to  do  this, 
not  to  do  that,  lest  they  be  hurt,  subduing  the  child 
with  the  fear  of  hurtful  consequences,  and  crippling 
their  development  by  barring  them  from  necessary 
experiences.  The  child  will  not  be  hurt  by  countless 
falls,  but  the  fear  of  the  fall  which  has  been  bred 
into  him,  will  leave  an  indelible  and  hurtful  impress 
upon  his  nervous  organism.  It  is  God's  intent  that 
man  be  free  from  fear,  and  it  is  therefore  that  the 
soft  babe  from  the  day  of  its  birth,  is  filled  with 
trustfulness,  and  is  free  from  fear  and  forebodings ; 
but  man,  it  seems,  refuses  to  trust  himself  to  higher 
forces,  and  prefers  to  harbor  fear  for  himself  and 
transmit  it  to  his  posterity. 

Ill 
EDUCATION    THROUGH    FEAR 

THE  lessons  of  fear  which  the  child  receives  from 
its  parents  are  intensified  by  the  methods  em- 
ployed at  the  school  in  which  he  receives  his 
education  and  life-training.  We  glory  in  the  fact 
that  we  have  made  great  strides  in  the  science  of 
education,  that  we  are  more  practical  in  the  choice  of 
subjects  for  study,  that  we  have  a  deeper  insight 
into  the  soul  of  the  child.  And  yet,  in  our  method 
of  imparting  knowledge  and  in  the  relations 
between  teacher  and  pupil,  we  can  boast  of  but  little 
progress.  We  still  look  upon  the  child  as  a  more 
or  less  unwilling  receptacle  that  must  be  stuffed 
with  learning.  The  teacher  is  still  a  being  to  be 
feared,  the  school  room  still  a  prison  house,  and 
learning  a  punishment.  Our  system  of  education  is 


still  based  on  reward  and  punishment.  A  high  mark 
is  still  the  encouragement  for  zeal  in  study,  while 
the  backward  student  is  haunted  by  the  prospect 
of  a  low  grade.  The  child,  under  present  methods, 
prepares  his  lessons  either  in  order  to  gain  the 
reward  of  a  high  mark,  or  for  fear  of  the  contempt 
and  humiliation  that  accompanies  a  low  grade.  In 
other  words,  he  works  not  because  of  the  intrinsic 
interest  of  his  work  but  in  the  hope  of  reward  or 
in  the  fear  of  punishment.  The  first  motive  breeds 
the  harmful  spirit  of  competition  in  the  young  mind. 
To  be  pointed  out  as  an  example  to  the  rest  of  the 
class  is  a  source  of  keen  satisfaction,  yet  it  is  a 
reward  that  has  a  deep  punishment  hidden  within 
it;  it  undermines  the  finer  elements  of  character, 
it  teaches  one  child  to  regard  himself  as  better  than 
another,  it  arouses  keen  rivalry  and  jealousy,  and 
often  generates  a  silent  bitterness.  The  second 
motive  may  generate  fear  and  cowardice;  it  en- 
courages untruthfulness  and  dissimulation.  By  the 
system  of  punishment  and  reward,  the  child  may  be 
stimulated  to  the  acquirement  of  much  knowledge 
and  much  information  on  various  subjects;  but  he 
will  not  necessarily  be  educated.  His  inner  life,  his 
character,  will  not  attain  that  height  which  will 
shape  him  into  a  builder  of,  or  even  a  worker 
towards  an  ideal  social  life.  The  object  of  education 
is  or  should  be,  to  prepare  the  child  to  adjust  him- 
self to  and  improve  his  environment;  to  meet  ade- 
quately the  intricacies  of  life,  to  face  its  difficulties 
and  solve  its  problems ;  more  than  this,  to  so  shape 
and  mould  his  character,  that  he  will  become  a  con- 
tributor to  social  progress.  A  method  of  education 
based  on  reward  and  punishment  can  but  imper- 
fectly achieve  this  aim.  Is  there  no  way  of  impart- 
ing knowledge  but  through  a  method  that  puts  the 
child  under  a  bondage  of  fear? 

Everything  in  nature,  every  form  of  existence 


enjoys  absolute  spontaneity  and  freedom,  except 
man.  In  the  very  early  stages  of  his  existence,  he 
is  put  into  chains,  and  passes  through  life  from  one 
stage  or  system  of  coercion  to  another.  One  of  the 
reasons  why  the  human  mind  is  the  least  active  of 
all  his  organs,  why  man  is  so  frequently  lazy  to 
think,  is  because  the  faculty  of  thought  was  not 
permitted  spontaneous  exercise  in  the  early  steps 
of  its  training.  It  has  become  accustomed  to  work 
only  under  coercion  or  fear.  Why  should  a  child  be 
crammed  with  learning  against  which  his  mind 
revolts?  Why  should  he  be  compelled  to  absorb 
knowledge  against  which  his  soul  offers  resistance? 
Children  are  not  indolent  by  nature.  Watch  them 
at  their  games  and  see  how  much  energy  they 
expend,  how  much  strength  they  lavish,  and  how 
much  work  they  perform,  and  yet  how  much  joy 
they  derive  from  this  expenditure  of  vitality.  Why 
cannot  knowledge  be  imparted  by  a  method  which 
will  transform  their  play  energy  into  learning 
energy?  Why  should  they  feel  exhausted  at  the  end 
of  a  lesson,  and  yet  full  of  glee  at  the  end  of  a  game? 
Apply  to  a  game  the  method  you  now  apply  in  the 
class-room,  and  you  will  find  that  the  children  will 
abhor  it  and  will  quickly  tire ;  while,  if,  on  the  other 
hand,  you  apply  to  a  class-room  lesson  the  method 
employed  in  a  game,  the  minds  of  the  pupils  will 
be  exhilarated,  and  they  will  love  their  work. 
Children  love  play  because  it  furnishes  an  adequate 
outlet  to  their  superabundant  physical  energy. 
Knowledge  likewise  can  be  imparted  in  a  way  that 
will  furnish  an  adequate  outlet  to  their  equally 
abundant  mental  energies.  Children  can  be  made 
to  master  a  lesson  with  the  same  joy  with  which 
they  master  a  new  game.  Fear  and  coercion  defeat 
the  aims  of  education,  for  its  impress  on  the  mind 
becomes  a  handicap  to  the  child  and  lessens  his  fit- 
ness to  meet  the  greater  issues  of  life  for  which 
education  was  originally  intended. 

6 


IV 

RELIGION   AND   FEAR 

A  GRIEVOUS  error  which  the  teachers  of  re- 
ligion have  committed  in  ages  past  ,and  to 
an  almost  equal  degree  to-day,  is  the  fear  of 
God  which  they  have  indelibly  impressed  upon  young 
and  old.  "Fear  thy  God,"  has  been  the  command 
to  their  followers, — implying  thereby  that  our  God 
is  a  High  Judge,  a  King,  a  despot  even,  watching 
closely  the  wrongdoings  of  his  people,  ready,  with 
his  messengers  of  punishment  behind  him  in  hosts, 
to  mete  out  sickness  and  affliction  and  want  upon 
those  who  violate  the  least  of  His  injunctions  or 
laws.  In  other  words,  we  may  say  that,  from  this 
point  of  view,  God  has  brought  us  into  existence 
only  that  he  might  have  greater  multitudes  to  rule 
over,  to  command,  and  to  direct. 

It  was  not  at  all  the  intention  of  the  Jewish  teach- 
ers and  sages  of  old  to  teach  the  fear  of  God.  Many 
of  their  utterances  regarding  the  relationship 
between  God  and  man  have  been  greatly  misunder- 
stood and  therefore  misinterpreted.  This  mis- 
understanding has  been  due  greatly  to  the  dual 
meaning  of  the  Hebrow  word,  "Yirah."  "Yirah" 
means  both  to  reverence  and  to  fear.  This  word, 
employed  numerous  times  throughout  the  Pen- 
tateuch with  reference  to  man's  attitude  toward 
God,  may  lead  to  the  translation  of  either,  "Fear 
thy  God,"  or,  "Reverence  thy  God."  It  is  clear  that 
the  translators  of  the  Bible  did  not  consider  the 
significance  of  the  latter  meaning  and  its  import 
upon  both  the  ethics  and  the  character  of  the  race. 
To  revere  our  God  means  that  we  are  to  look  upon 
him  as  a  Father,  a  Shepherd,  to  guide  our  steps  and 
watch  over  our  destiny;  it  means  that  we  are  His 
children  and  His  flock,  that  He  has  brought  us  into 
existence  as  an  expression  of  His  love.  It  means 
that  the  whole  universe  is  an  outflow  of  His  love, 


and  in  response  to  His  profound  love,  we  revere  His 
name.  To  say  that  God  requests  fear  is  to  limit 
his  powers,  to  lower  Him  to  the  level  of  an  earthly 
king,  who  sways  his  people  with  the  tyranny  of  fear. 
The  true  attributes  of  God  are  outlined  in  Exodus 
34:6,  "The  Lord,  the  Lord  God  is  merciful  and 
gracious,  long-suffering  and  abundant  in  goodness 
and  truth."  The  Psalmist  conceives  of  God  as  his 
Rock  and  his  Salvation,  and  therefore  triumphantly 
exclaims,  "Whom  shall  I  fear?"  God  is  his  Light 
and  his  Stronghold,  his  Shield  and  his  Place  of 
Refuge,  therefore  those  who  rise  up  against  him  can 
do  him  no  injury.  God  is  more  to  him  than  an 
earthly  parent  even,  "For  though  my  father  and 
my  mother  have  forsaken  me,  the  Lord  will  take 
me  up."  God  is  his  consolation  in  the  day  of  sor- 
row, his  hope  in  the  hour  of  depression,  his  fort- 
ress in  the  presence  of  difficulties.  The  Psalmist 
does  not  fear  his  God ;  he  has  only  trust  in  His  love 
and  protection. 

It  is  clear  that  the  object  of  the  founders  of  the 
Jewish  faith  was  not  to  sow  fear  of  God  in  the  hearts 
of  the  people;  to  plant  love  rather  than  fear  was 
their  aim.  Our  great  lawgiver  states  distinctly  in 
Deuteronomy  6:5,  "And  thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God,  with  all  thy  heart,  with  all  thy  soul,  and 
with  all  thy  might,"  and  the  devout  Jew  to  this  day 
repeats  this  impassioned  injunction  in  his  daily 
prayers.  It  is  not  conceivable  that  Moses  in  one 
passage  would  have  commanded  us  to  love  our  God, 
and  in  another  to  fear  Him,  for  we  never  love  those 
whom  we  fear.  Reverence  and  love,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  harmonious  sentiments.  In  the  very  same 
chapter  as  that  referred  to,  Moses  enjoins  his 
people  first  to  love  God,  and  then  as  a  consequence, 
observe  His  law. 

A  system  of  ethics  may  be  based  either  on  fear 
or  on  love,  but  not  on  both.  When  based  on  fear, 

8 


the  letter  of  the  law,  as  a  rule,  will  be  executed, 
but  not  its  spirit.  Because  of  fear,  men  may  deal 
honestly  with  one  another,  but  they  will  not  neces- 
sarily be  honest  men,  they  may  speak  truthfully 
even  and  not  be  truthful.  Fear  develops  a  dual 
personality,  one  manifested  in  the  presence  of  the 
object  feared,  the  other,  perhaps  of  extremely  op- 
posite tendencies,  unfolded  in  the  secret  chamber 
of  the  heart.  In  a  system  of  ethics  based  on  fear, 
man  is  persuaded  that  he  is  weak  and  untrust- 
worthy, that  his  nature  is  hopelessly  corrupt,  unable 
to  master  itself  except  at  the  lash  of  a  Force  lying 
outside  himself.  Man,  it  then  would  seem,  is  innately 
wicked;  his  wickedness  must  be  chained  by  threats 
of  divine  wrath  and  punishment;  he,  of  his  own 
accord,  would  not  walk  in  the  path  that  is  straight ; 
he  must  be  forced  into  it  by  the  gaps  and  ditches 
that  are  lurking  dangerously  outside  this  path. 
Such  a  system,  in  which  man  is  convinced  that  he 
is  unable  to  take  care  of  himself,  build  his  own 
character,  merely  tends  to  generate  moral  weakness 
and  cowardice. 

A  system  of  ethics  based  on  love  develops  a  unified 
personality,  a  oneness  between  thought  and  action. 
It  enhances,  more  and  more,  the  moral  courage 
which  is  basic  to  man.  Through  love,  man  becomes 
conscious  of  the  great  force  of  goodness  and  virtue 
that  lie  within  him.  He  knows  that  he  is  possessed 
of  inherent  goodness  and  godliness,  if  he  knows  that 
in  himself  is  a  spark  of  the  divine,  a  force  that 
makes  for  perfection.  All  he  needs  to  do  is  to 
allow  this  divine  spark  to  illuminate  and  permeate 
his  whole  being,  and  darkness  and  evil  will  dis- 
appear from  his  heart. 

The  fear  of  God  may  have  had  its  rise  in  the 
political  system  of  days  gone  by  when  every  step 
of  man's  mortal  existence  was  shadowed  by  fear; 
when  the  earthly  king  who  ruled  him  demanded 
abject  fear  and  abject  obedience  from  his  subject, 


and  who  for  infringement  of  his  law  could  exact 
inhuman  punishment;  when  the  lords  for  whom 
he  labored,  the  hem  of  whose  garments  he  kissed 
with  trepidation,  had  power  of  life  and  death  over 
their  body;  when  the  generals  under  whom  they 
drilled,  made  terror  the  weapon  of  their  discipline, 
so  that  their  glances  were  spears  and  their  mere 
presence  overwhelming  to  the  men  whom  they  led. 
Under  such  governance,  men  could  not  with  read- 
iness conceive  of  God  as  good  and  merciful,  long- 
suffering  and  full  of  loving-kindness.  God's  power, 
the  mind  would  argue,  extends  far  beyond  that  of 
an  earthly  king,  for  he  is  the  King  of  kings;  and 
if  the  heart  sinks  with  trepidation  before  the  ter- 
restrial king,  and  even  before  his  high  servants, 
who  are  mortals  of  the  same  flesh  and  blood,  how 
much  more,  then,  is  one  to  be  imbued  with  the  fear 
of  God! 

Man  is  now  freeing  himself  from  the  chains  into 
which  he  once  placed  himself.  Kings  have  lost  their 
might,  lords  are  such  but  in  name,  warriors  have  lost 
their  piercing  looks.  Man  is  almost  free.  He  is 
beginning  to  see  that  the  fear  which  has  bound  him 
for  centuries  was,  after  all,  but  an  arbitrary  force 
generated  by  the  indifference  of  man  and  now 
destroyed  by  the  will  of  man.  The  world,  in  man's 
mind,  is  beginning  to  lose  its  medieval  aspect  of 
a  prison  house,  and  is  becoming  more  spacious  and 
rainbow-hued.  God  has  lost  the  traits  that  made 
man  cower.  He  is  no  longer  a  tyrant  and  a  mer- 
ciless judge;  He  has  not  brought  us  into  existence 
to  make  us  suffer,  or  to  punish  us  for  our  misdeeds. 
No;  He  is  the  author  of  peace  and  happiness;  He 
has  instilled  softness  and  tenderness  in  the  human 
heart,  calmness  and  serenity  and  order  in  the  heart 
of  nature.  He  is  the  fountain  of  mercy  and  loving- 
kindness.  He  is  a  Father  and  not  a  king.  To  fear 
Him  is  to  misunderstand  His  relation  to  the  universe 
and  to  man. 

10 


Through  Jewish  Science,  religion  becomes  a  force, 
not  to  weaken  man,  but  to  strengthen  him;  not  to 
nurture,  through  fear,  the  debilities  which  prehis- 
toric ages  have  transmitted  to  him,  but  to  endow  him 
with  the  courage  that  will  carry  him  to  the  summit  in 
his  climb  from  progress  to  progress ;  not  to  depress 
him,  but  to  fill  him  with  new  hope  and  vision  that 
he  may  see  life  in  truer  and  brighter  colors.  Man 
must  conceive  his  God  only  as  infinite  goodness, 
infinite  mercy  and  also  as  infinite  freedom,  and  must 
emulate  these  divine  attributes.  God  is  the  only 
model  of  perfection,  and  to  become  Godlike  must 
be  man's  aim.  Through  love  of  God,  not  through 
fear  of  Him,  can  we  come  near  to  perfection. 


FEAR  OF  PUBLIC  OPINION 

WHILE  man  is  learning,  we  believe,  to  over- 
come his  fear  of  God,  he  is  still  suffering 
from  another  form  of  thralldom — the  fear 
of  Public  Opinion.  It  seems  that  men  are  mortally 
afraid  one  of  the  other.  Man,  who  has  overcome 
the  fear  of  wild  or  ferocious  animals,  who  has  con- 
quered them  and  driven  them  from  his  habitation, 
who  has  succeeded  even  in  chaining  and  utilizing 
the  forces  of  nature,  is  still  helpless  in  the  presence 
of  his  fellow-man.  In  former  days,  man  was  afraid 
of  his  neighbor's  javelin  and  axe;  now  he  dreads 
his  neighbor's  opinion.  What  will  his  neighbor 
think  of  his  conduct,  his  dress,  his  children,  his 
home,  his  gait,  his  speech,  is  the  question  which 
dominates  the  individual  of  to-day.  Public  Opinion, 
not  intrinsic  merit,  seems  to  be  the  motivating 
factor  of  society. 

Unfortunately,  too,  the  standard  of  public 
opinion  is  set  up  by  the  man  of  wealth.  We  all  know 
that  the  rich  man  has  no  advantage  in  wisdom  or 
spirituality  over  any  other  of  his  fellow  mortals, 

11 


and  yet  it  is  he  who,  by  reason  merely  of  his  riches,  is 
the  leader  of  society,  and  it  is  he  whom  the  rest  of 
the  world  is  trying  to  imitate,  and  ingratiate  itself 
with. 

And  this  adoration  and  aping  of  wealth  is  exceed- 
ingly costly.  The  desire  to  appear  wealthy  has 
ruined  countless  homes,  the  fear  that  poverty  may 
be  suspected  has  undermined  the  peace  and  health 
and  happiness  of  countless  lives.  I  am  not  among 
those  who  preach  that  poverty  is  a  blessing;  it 
would  perhaps  be  a  blessing  for  those  to  whom 
wealth  is  a  curse,  but  it  is  by  no  means  a  blessing 
to  those  who  feel  its  brunt  and  its  oppression.  But 
poverty  or  a  lack  of  abundance  is  by  no  means  a 
shame.  Why  a  pretence  of  wealth  when  wealth  is 
lacking?  Is  a  man  less  wise,  less  moral,  less  sincere, 
less  decent,  because  he  has  no  superfluous  riches? 
Does  lack  of  wealth  in  any  way  affect  the  qualities 
of  manhood?  Why,  then,  instead  of  looking  upon 
poverty  as  merely  a  discomfort,  does  one  act  as  if 
it  were  a  disgrace  that  must  be  covered  up  at  any 
cost?  Many  a  man  (and  particularly  many  a 
woman),  will,  in  the  fear  of  appearing  poor,  deprive 
himself  of  absolute  necessities,  even  undermine  his 
health,  or  go  into  debt,  in  order  to  acquire  the  things 
that  will  disguise  from  those  wealthier  than  he,  his 
actual  condition.  The  imitation  of  wealth,  as  well 
as  the  craving  for  wealth,  is  becoming  so  potent  a 
factor  in  human  nature,  that  man  will  violate  not 
only  the  basic  rules  of  society,  but  also  the  finest 
propensities  of  his  own  soul  in  order  to  reach  that 
petty  goal. 

The  desire  to  secure  the  good  opinion  of  the  world 
for  oneself  leads  also  to  many  vanities  and  not  at 
all  harmless  foibles.  Note  the  many  faces  hidden 
under  a  coat  of  cosmetics,  fearing  to  disclose  the 
lines  which  time  has  furrowed  upon  them.  Man 
is  too  eager  to  retain  the  period  of  his  youth.  Youth 
is  actually  worshipped;  and  where  it  cannot  be  re- 

12 


tained,  it  is  imitated,  often  in  ridiculous  fashion. 
Why  do  we  fear  to  grow  older?  Why  do  we  strive 
to  appear  youthful  when  that  glory  has  fled  ?  Every 
period  in  man's  life  has  its  beauty  and  its  particular 
strength.  Childhood  has  its  innocence,  youth  its 
ambition,  and  maturity  its  wisdom.  Every  stage  is 
beautiful  when  it  comes ;  to  endeavor  to  prolong  one 
period  at  the  expense  of  another,  is  a  failure,  on 
the  one  hand,  to  comprehend  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  existence  which  is  a  progressive  onward 
movement,  steadily  advancing  from  one  height  to 
another ;  and  a  lack,  on  the  other  hand,  of  the  reali- 
zation that  the  power  of  nature  is  mightier  than  the 
will  of  man.  Man  may  deceive  his  neighbor,  and 
even  there  he  is  not  always  successful,  but  he  can 
never  deceive  the  law  of  nature.  The  current, 
time,  carries  away  everything  that  may  be  placed 
to  obstruct  its  course. 

It  is  more  becoming  to  man  to  advance  in  age, 
and  endeavor  to  live  up  to  his  age,  than  to  advance 
in  years  and  conduct  himself  as  if  the  current  of 
his  life  had  remained  stationary.  The  chief  rea- 
son why  men  and  women  fear  to  lose  their  youth 
is  that  maturity  implies  serious-mindedness,  and 
they  are  unwilling  to  regard  life  seriously.  All  that 
is  necessary  to  youth  is  to  feel,  to  crowd  the  days 
and  years  with  all  manner  of  pleasurable  sensations. 
A  steady  flow  of  excitation  and  emotion  replaces 
the  need  for  actual  thought  and  a  serious  perspective 
of  life.  But  such  a  process,  in  those  of  maturity, 
is  a  futile  self-deception.  We  may  not  be  willing 
to  walk  with  time,  but  we  are  carried  just  the  same. 
The  fear 'of  appearing  old,  which  is  absurdity,  will 
give  place  to  pleasure  at  the  advance  of  age,  if  only 
man  will  himself  advance  with  his  years. 

In  many  further  fields  of  human  relations  than 
we  have  treated,  does  the  fear  of  public  opinion  lay 
its  grip.  If  men  would  fear  the  admonitions  of  their 
own  conscience  as  they  fear  the  censure  of  their 

13 


neighbors,  what  a  perfect  world  this  would  be  in 
which  to  live. 

VI 
FEAR   OF   ILLNESS 

THE  fear  of  illness  is  a  form  of  depression  which 
torments  the  spirit  of  man,  and  is,  in  many 
cases,  actually  responsible  for  the  inroads  of 
disease.  In  the  days  of  superstition,  sickness  was 
regarded  as  the  work  of  evil  spirits  which  gained 
entrance  into  the  human  body  and  deranged  or 
destroyed  some  of  its  vital  elements.  In  our  age, 
of  course,  the  fear  of  spirits  has  lost  its  hold  com- 
pletely, but  in  its  stead  the  theory  of  germs  and 
microbes  is  holding  us  in  equal  terror.  We  avoid, 
with  justice,  the  presence  of  pestilential  insects, 
but  our  exaggerated  dread  of  these  germ-carriers 
only  gives  them  added  strength.  For  microbes  and 
germs  have  little  effect  upon  a  healthy  individual 
whose  mind  is  free  from  fear;  this,  because  man 
possesses  within  himself  all  the  forces  necessary 
to  combat  successfully  the  invasion  of  these 
destructive  intruders;  but  when  man  is  depressed 
by  fear,  the  vitality  of  his  protective  forces  is 
lowered,  the  body  is  consequently  weakened,  and 
the  invaders  find  easy  access  to  the  vital  organs. 

The  fear  of  sickness  is  the  greatest  of  all  sick- 
nesses. The  subconscious  mind  grasps  a  thought 
or  an  attitude  of  fear  quite  readily  and  actuates  it 
in  the  body.  One  amenable  to  suggestion,  the  mere 
description  of  some  ailment  will  set  to  discovering 
identical  symptoms  in  his  own  being.  He  will  be 
filled  with  anxiety  lest  he  too  may  succumb  to  the 
dangerous  illness.  Such  a  fear  will  actually  under- 
mine his  vitality  and  impair  his  health.  Some  there 
are  who  at  the  slightest  indisposition  already  see 
themselves  at  death's  door,  and  even  go  so  far 
as  to  see  distinctly  the  pitying  eyes  around  their  bed, 

14 


and  the  weeping  and  mourning  of  their  surviving 
friends.  Naturally,  such  a  state  of  mind,  com- 
mingled of  fear  and  self-pity,  works  havoc  upon  the 
body.  Many  a  man  and  woman  have  spent  sleepless 
jiights,  driving  healing  slumber  away  with  their 
imaginings  and  terrors  at  the  fancied  encroachment 
of  some  dread  disease. 

We  must  realize  the  true  nature  of  health,  and 
then  we  may  be  able  to  cope  with  illness.  Health 
is  the  natural  state  of  man,  illness  is  the  exception. 
Man  is  essentially  a  healthy  being.  God,  the  fountain 
of  life  and  health,  created  man  in  his  own  image; 
but  man,  through  failure  to  realize  this  truth,  fol- 
lows paths  which  lead  to  bodily  deterioration. 
Sickness  does  not  mean  that  the  divine  in  man  is 
impaired,  but  it  means  simply  that  the  divine  flow 
of  health,  the  fountain  of  strength,  has  been  brought 
to  a  standstill. 

If  man  would  but  realize  that  he  is  essentially 
a  spiritual  being,  that  his  body  is  but  the  vesture 
of  the  individualized  spirit,  that  his  life  is  a  portion 
of  the  great  Spring  of  life  which  fills  the  world,  he 
would  at  once  discard  the  constant  fear  of  ill-health 
to  which  he  is  a  prey.  The  organs  of  the  body  are 
but  the  visible  instruments  whereby  the  spirit 
expresses  itself,  the  senses  are  but  mediums,  and 
the  brain  is  but  a  tool,  and  all  the  other  processes 
are  but  messengers  to  carry  out  the  injunction  from 
the  higher  center  of  man,  from  his  mind.  Sickness 
in  the  body  is  a  symptom  of  some  disturbance  in  the 
mind-center;  bodily  sickness  is  the  signal  of  some 
form  of  mental  depression,  conscious  or  uncon- 
scious. It  is  the  spirit  in  man,  therefore,  the  invis- 
ible, the  mind,  which  must  be  considered  first  in 
avoidance  and  treatment  of  illness.  Spirit  cannot 
be  reached  through  physical  channels,  it  must  be 
reached  through  divine  methods.  When  one  fears 
the  approach  of  illness,  let  him  commune  with  the 
divine  in  him ;  let  him,  in  order  to  stimulate  the  flow 

15 


of  health  and  courage  within  him  deliver  himself 
completely  to  the  care  of  God.  Let  him  affirm  with 
all  sincerity  and  devotion  "I  am  a  divine  being, 
the  flow  of  divine  health  is  circulating  through  my 
body,"  or,  "The  divine  fountain  of  Health  within 
me  is  yielding  new  strength  with  every  hour."  The 
stream  of  health  will  then  resume  its  natural  route 
through  the  body,  and  the  fear  of  illness,  like  a 
phantom  at  the  sight  of  the  sun,  will  steal  away. 

Many  good  people  believe  that  sickness,  is  a 
punishment,  a  purgative  to  cleanse  us  of  our  sins, 
God's  way  of  showing  His  wrath,  and  wreaking 
vengeance  upon  his  lawbreakers.  But  the  philo- 
sophy of  Jewish  Science  holds  such  theories  utterly 
groundless.  By  us,  God  is  conceived  as  a  loving  and 
merciful  Father.  There  is  no  vengeance  in  the 
heart  of  a  father.  The  child  is  a  very  part  of  him- 
self, just  as  we  are  a  very  part  of  God  who  gave 
us  being.  God  showers  mercy  and  love  upon  us, 
not  punishment.  On  the  contrary,  sickness  is  in- 
variably a  punishment  which  man  inflicts  upon  him- 
self, ignorantly  or  willfully.  And  even  then,  the 
power  of  God,  the  source  of  health,  is  always  within 
us,  ready  to  restore  us  to  well-being,  if  we  but  earn- 
estly seek  His  help  and  invoke  that  power  within  us. 

VII 
THE  VIEWPOINT  OF  JEWISH  SCIENCE 

IN  the  sacred  Scriptures,  fear  is  regarded  as  a 
bondage  of  the  soul,  and  freedom  from  it  is  hap- 
piness. When  the  prophet  Isaiah  pictures  the  ideal 
future  which  the  remnant  of  Israel  will  enjoy,  he 
exclaims     "And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  day, 
that  the  Lord  shall  give  thee  rest  from  thy  travail 
and  thy  fear."    To  the  Psalmist,  fear  is  a  destroyer 
of  calmness  and  peace  of  mind ;  therefore,  he  prays, 
"Hear  my  voice,  O  God,  in'  my  prayer ;  preserve 
my  life  from  fear." 

16 


But,  the  same  Psalmist  tells  us,  those  who  take 
refuge  in  God  have  no  cause  for  fear,  for  God  is 
with  them  always,  watching  over  them,  that  no 
evil  may  befall  them.  Absolute  trust  and  confi- 
dence in  God  is  the  best  shield  against  fear.  "The 
Lord  is  my  light  and  my  salvation,  whom  shall  I 
fear?"  "The  Lord  is  the  stronghold  of  my  life;  of 
whom  shall  I  be  afraid?"  "Though  a  host  should 
encamp  against  me,  my  heart  shall  not  fear."  This 
intense  faith  carries  the  Psalmist  safely  through 
all  danger  and  affliction.  He  is  surrounded  with 
an  aura  which  transforms  all  darkness  into  light, 
before  which  the  thought  of  peril  and  danger  take 
wing.  Face  to  face  with  dire  want,  the  thought  of 
starvation  does  not  apall  him.  He  wards  off  this 
fear  by  affirming  in  all  confidence,  "The  Lord  is  my 
Shepherd,  I  shall  not  want."  Confronted  by  death, 
his  faith  does  not  fail  him,  "Yea,  though  I  walk 
through  the  valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death,  I  will 
fear  no  evil,  for  Thou  art  with  me." 

The  author  of  Proverbs  likewise  finds  that 
reliance  upon  God  is  the  best  protection  against 
fear:  "Be  not  afraid  of  sudden  terror  .  .  .  for  the 
Lord  will  be  thy  confidence,  and  will  keep  thy  foot 
from  being  caught." 

Faith  in  God,  we  see  thus,  is  given  as  the  antidote 
to  fear.  This  faith  must  be  genuine;  it  must  be 
felt  as  sincerely  as  did  the  Psalmist.  God  must 
be  conceived  as  the  vitalizing  force  of  all  reality, 
as  the  essence  of  all  existence.  He  is  the  soul  of 
the  world,  and  permeates  every  particle  of  its  sub- 
stance. He  is  therefore  the  soul  of  every  being; 
He  is  the  very  soul  of  man.  And  the  fact  that 
He  resides  in  man,  is  the  best  assurance  that  man 
is  protected  against  the  invasion  of  forces  hostile 
and  destructive  to  his  existence.  God  dwells  in 
man,  His  presence  is  a  tower  of  strength  and  a 
shield  to  guard  him  from  all  ill.  Man  must  realize 

17 


this  truth,  and  the  realization  of  it  will  drive  out 
all  fear. 

Fear  takes  its  inception  from  the  fact  that  man 
feels  himself  to  be  alone  in  this  world.  When  con- 
fronted with  danger,  he  believes  that  the  task  of 
extricating  himself  from  imminent  peril  lies  upon 
himself,  and  at  the  same  time  regards  himself  as 
too  feeble  and  insignificant  to  avert  the  impending 
calamity.  In  the  face  of  adversity  and  difficulties, 
which,  as  a  rule  are  monstrously  exaggerated  in  his 
mind,  his  helplessness  apalls  him,  for  he  thinks  that 
the  burden  of  solving  his  perplexities  rests  upon 
his  shoulders  alone,  and  his  powers,  he  feels,  are  not 
equal  to  the  task.  This  sense  of  helplessness  it  is 
that  gives  rise  to  overwhelming  fear.  But  man  in 
reality,  is  not  alone,  he  is  not  a  stray  leaf  to  be 
blown  about  by  every  breeze,  not  a  fragile  twig  to 
be  bent  or  broken  by  every  storm,  not  a  deserted 
barge  to  be  carried  by  every  current;  no,  man  is 
a  vital  factor  in  the  divine  scheme,  he  is  an  essen- 
tial portion  of  the  divine  universe;  without  him, 
God's  world  is  incomplete.  The  power  that  satur- 
ates the  universe  is  also  with  him;  God,  who  fills 
the  world,  dwells  also  within  the  innermost  depths 
of  his  being,  and  therefore  he  has  no  cause  to  feel 
alone  or  unsupported;  the  reservoir  of  divine  power 
within  him  will  aid  him  in  overcoming  all  the  per- 
plexities which  he  may  encounter  in  life.  This  is 
the  philosophy  of  Jewish  Science. 

Jewish  Science  destroys  fear  from  the  heart  of 
its  adherents  by  cultivating  in  them  absolute  trust 
and  confidence  in  God.  God,  it  teaches,  is  the  es- 
sence of  all  reality;  He  saturates  the  heart  of 
nature  and  the  heart  of  man.  Man  must,  therefore, 
not  look  upon  himself  as  a  segregate  being  destined 
to  suffer  sickness  or  endure  privation  to  the  end 
of  his  days;  he  must,  on  the  contrary,  regard  him- 
self as  an  integral  portion  of  the  universal  and 
divine  whole  which  embraces  all  reality — he  must 

18 


look  upon  himself  as  a  part  of  God.  It  follows,  there- 
fore, that  he  is  not  placed  here  to  suffer  "the  slings 
and  arrows  of  outrageous  fortune,"  but  to  express 
the  will  of  God.  He  has  no  cause  for  fear,  for  the 
divine  in  him  will  never  fail  him. 

Jewish  Science  shows  how  man,  from  his  earliest 
childhood,  may  be  trained  to  live  without  fear. 
Children  may  be  taught,  and  very  early,  of  the 
presence  of  God  and  His  ways.  The  divine  con- 
sciousness will  grow  and  develop  in  them,  and  this 
consciousness  is  the  best  assurance  of  fearless  and 
righteous  conduct  in  life.  At  the  very  entrance  of 
life,  they  will  begin  to  look  upon  themselves  as 
beings  brought  here  for  the  sublime  task  of  ex- 
pressing the  divine  will,  which  is  equity,  justice, 
goodness,  kindness  and  love. 

Jewish  Science  stresses  the  commandment,  "Love 
the  Lord  thy  God,"  and  adds  the  injunction,  "Do 
not  fear  Him."  He  lavishes  His  goodness  and  love 
upon  us ;  He  deals  with  us  as  a  merciful  father ;  why 
then  fear  Him  and  hide  ourselves  from  His  pres- 
ence? We  must  atune  our  senses  to  the  reception 
of  divine  love,  so  that  they  may  be  reached  by  its 
vibrations.  Love  your  God  and  love  your  fellow- 
men,  for  they  are  created  in  the  image  of  God. 

Jewish  Science  combats  the  fear  of  poverty  by 
emphasizing  the  fact  that  true  wealth  lies  in  the 
acquisition  of  spiritual  riches.  Material  riches  is 
not  life,  it  is  only  a  means  for  living.  To  value  life 
by  wealth  is  to  degrade  it.  Trust  in  God  and  He 
will  satisfy  all  your  needs.  He  has  prepared  susten- 
ance for  all  those  to  whom  He  gave  life.  He  has 
placed  it  within  their  reach  and  has  given  them  the 
power  to  go  and  obtain  it.  Just  as  He  has  prepared 
sustenance  for  all  the  birds,  but,  having  given  them 
the  means  of  obtaining  it  through  their  own  efforts, 
has  not  thrown  it  into  their  nests;  so,  with  the 
same  end,  He  has  endowed  man  with  the  necessary 
tools  to  dig  and  labor  for  his  bread.  It  is  the  pro- 

19 


cess  of  obtaining  his  necessities  that  develops  man 
and  makes  life  interesting.  A  life  of  simple  com- 
fort, obtained  through  one's  own  efforts,  a  life  free 
from  forebodings  and  fear,  is  a  goal  to  be  desired 
more  ardently  than  a  superabundance  of  wealth 
and  luxury. 

By  effecting  complete  harmony  between  body  and 
mind,  instilling  the  truth  that  God,  the  fountain  of 
health,  dwells  within  man,  ready  to  pour  forth  its 
abundance  whenever  it  is  invoked,  Jewish  Science 
overcomes  depression,  drives  out  fear,  and  conquers 
illness. 


Centuries  of  persecution  and  affliction  have 
developed  in  the  heart  of  the  Jew  the  tendency  to 
fear.  While,  on  the  one  hand,  it  has  developed  his 
power  of  endurance,  it  has,  on  the  other  hand, 
intensified  a  timorous  attitude  toward  life.  The 
Jew,  in  order  to  emancipate  himself  from  the  grasp 
of  fear,  must  redevelop  within  his  consciousness 
that  absolute  faith  in  God  that  gave  hope  and  cheer 
to  the  Psalmist  and  prophets  of  our  race;  he  must 
reclaim  this  old  religious  devotion  and  thereby 
free  himself  from  the  anxieties  of  the  day  and  the 
terrors  of  night.  Jewish  Science  aims  to  rebuild 
and  restore  this  religious  consciousness  in  the  Jew, 
free  him  thus  from  fear,  and  make  him  strive  and 
hope  and  rejoice  in  the  presence  of  God;  and  those 
who  have  already  become  its  adherents  have  felt 
its  influence  for  health  and  happiness. 


20 
MN1V,  OF  CALIF.  LIBRARY,  LOS  ANGELES 


\\7PE  hold  services  every  Sunday 
*  *  morning  at  11,  at  the  Hotel 
McAlpin  (Blue  Room)  to  which  all 
are  cordially  invited. 

Lecture  and  devotional  meeting 
every  Wednesday  evening  at  8:30 
at  the  Young  Women's  Hebrew 
Association,  31  West  110th  Street. 

We  have  Healing  Hours  daily  from 
2-6  P.  M.  at  610  West  163rd  Street 
for  those  who  seek  Health  through 
the  channels  of  Religion. 

We  offer  Health  and  Happiness  to 
the  Jew — through  his  own  Religion. 


